More proprietary content, more video and greater social network presence: the new edition of El País in Mexico

News written by El País teams in Mexico has been making its way on to the Facebook walls of tens of thousands of readers over the past few weeks ago. Readers now have a new way of approaching stories in the online world thanks to the Mexican edition of Verne. And from now on, readers will be seeing more and more play icons on the website of newspaper. These are just some of the clearly visible changes being rolled out on the Mexican edition of El Pais arising from changes happening across the newsroom.

The newspaper has boosted the workforce on all its media platforms to offer more proprietary and savvier content and news, and has increased its social media presence – improving engagement with users. A new audiovisual team has been brought on board to tell stories with video. And just a few days ago, came the debut of the Mexican version of Verne, a website with its finger on the pulse of the latest trends and viral content.

"It’s crucial that we have a news team that’s in touch with the Mexican reader and that knows what’s going on locally. So we sought out specialized teams and we’ve placed a greater emphasis on social networks because they’re fundamental when it comes to distributing content. Our audiovisual teams will enhance the experience of the digital reader," says Armando Collazos, international director of PRISA Noticias. "One of our goals is to provide in-depth coverage and reports on Mexico and the surrounding region. We’ve reinforced the production of in-house stories and investigative journalism with the arrival of new reporters. El País is committed to offering Mexico high-quality journalism using all the weapons that technology offers, giving readers in-depth, interesting and accurate news in any format," explains Jan Martínez Ahrens, correspondent and bureau head in Mexico.

The Facebook page in Mexico represents a new channel of dialogue between the media and readers, and is growing by 15,000 new users weekly. The El Pais Facebook page in Mexico is the second most popular in number of friends in the paper’s global Facebook network, and Mexico City is the city with most followers, even ahead of Madrid. The Mexican edition is also present on Periscope, Instagram and Snapchat. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of readers from social networks increased from 11% to 24%. In 2015, video reproductions for El País increased by 225% over the previous year.

Verne, EL PAÍS’s trends website, opened its Mexican edition this February. Mari Luz Peinado, who has coordinated the launch, explains that the site "will address the most-discussed topics on social media in Mexico and will shed light on just why these videos and stories are shared thousands of times over. The site will be paying special attention to those anonymous little gestures that set the networks on fire". Verne Mexico looks at why every night on Twitter there’s a roll call in memory of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students, and analyzes a range of controversies (Was the Sean Penn interview with El Chapo journalism?). And it gets its teeth into current stories, asking the reader, for example, to test their knowledge on the Zika virus. All that and more – such as the Mexican obsession with spicy food and the truth behind Mexico’s mythical hangover cures.

To strengthen El País’s print edition, an agreement has been signed with the prestigious Mexican business and finance newspaper El Financiero. "With this agreement we will be in a position to offer a comprehensive range of content to our subscribers and at the same time improve the processes of production, distribution and marketing," said Collazos. As a result, from February 15 readers have been enjoying the local edition of El Pais in full color. The Opinion section has also been expanded, with articles from the likes of writer Juan Villoro. Editorial teams have been filled out with new writers – and reporters are now working side by side with audience experts and SEO specialists.